Today former Congressman Ernest Istook testified before the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee about the $105 billion slush fund in advance appropriations liberals tucked inside Obamacare. The $105 billion bypasses the traditional yearly budgeting process and is spread throughout the 2,700 page legislation. It took the Congressional Research Service (CRS) seven months to identify all the disparate funds and it was not until February (11 months after the bill passed) that all of the funds could be totaled up.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has been beating the drum to raise awareness of this unprecedented level of advance spending. But the liberal media has been attacking her for calling it “hidden” funding. In reality, Rep. Bachmann said that “practically no Member of Congress even knew that $105 billion of funding was” in the bill. FactCheck says that this funding was known to “those who read the bill … including members of Congress.” But does FactCheck really believe that any member of Congress read all 2,700 pages of the bill? Do they have any evidence at all that any member of Congress knew about the $105 billion figure before CRS published their report this February?

But more importantly, in their attempted take down of Rep. Bachmann, PolitiFact, FactCheck, and The Washington Post Fact Checker all confirm her underlying charge: the $105 billion exists. Poltifact writes: “We added up the spending Bachmann was referring to and got $104 billion — very close to her number.”

And a note to The Washington Post Fact Checker: Former Congressman Ernest Istook served in the House of Representatives, not the Senate.

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This action by the Democrats was fraud. They planned this from the beginning. Nevertheless, we the Americans can not do anything to stop what they have done through the obamacare legislation. All politicians are above the law, by there own political actions. The only recourse to this type of fraudulent actions by a political party is civil war. It has happen to countries we have studied in our history books and it is happening to America. We worry about our children paying off a huged debt, but we better think about a war that will cause most of them to die.

She is correct that Congress already has appropriated some spending in future years, but her claim that this money was "hidden" does not have credibility. The money for these programs was clearly described and analyzed by the Congressional Budget Office before the legislation was voted into law."

Redfray, they're looking for civil unrest. They're already available to let lose they're neighborhood (better than the military- -president's words, not mine) task force. I say GIVE THE MONEY BACK and arrest! ACCOUNTABILITY AND REPRIMAND. Democrats shouldn't be immune to the laws they put on everyone else. ACCOUNTABILITY AND REPRIMAND! Don't pity the dishonest and inept. HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE! REPRIMAND will teach them, we expect and deserve HONEST, PRINCIPLED LEADERSHIP and won't stand for anything less!

We all know that what they did was inappropriate and intentionally deceptive as no one, even if they read the bill, would be able to put it all together. My only beef is that my friends and I are fighting the good fight against the very loud liberal mouthpieces out here in the blogoshere, trying to keep the conservative voice in the mix. While the headline boasts that the fact checkers "confirm" the existence of the $105 Billion, that's as far as they go. When you go to their links, ALL of them make Bachmann appear the fool. None call it slush fund, all say it wasn't "hidden", and all say appropriations for funding within a bill are not unusual. I love you guys but we post these links to back up our assertions to people who actually read them – this one gives them ammo to throw it back in our face. – A little disappointed.

Let's see, FactCheck did not Nancy Pelosi get on national TV and say :"if you want to know what is in the bill you have to pass the bill". Now you want to claim they read it first? Can't have it both ways.

The fact that Nancy Pelosi DEMANDED that the Obama care bill be approved BEFORE it could be read by anyone outside the drafters of the bill is criminal. If her husband wanted a divorce would Nancy Pelosi sign the divorce papers without reading and checking each page? Absolutely not!!! She is a very dishonest person. Cannot understand why the people in California keep voting for her.

This bill should never have passed in the 1st place. If it continues to go the way it is written we as a country will be in sad shape. We need people in the White House and Congress that are going to start listen to the people that pay their Salary. If something isn;t done Americans are going to rise up and take back their country……….. Thank you Senator for bringing this to our attention, continue your fight we are behind you. Always do what is right. Our country was founded on faith and the best for our country…..

Michele keep up the good work. I love when every one is opting out of Obamacare. It cannot be that great if government employees don't have it and don't want it and to keep their own. It should be all or nothing. David I do not see you sending checks to the IRS, since you like paying for this why don't you send them extra money. I'm sure the government will gladly execept.

I'm certainly no attorney, but it seems to me what Obama, Reid and Pelosi did is fraudulent. If so, per the Constitution, these 3 should be impeached. They knew that the masses were opposed to this bill and that's why they did what they did! ~~

If Pelosi is so smart and if you don't believe she is, just ask her, then why in the hell would she not want the bill read? She knew that the truth would come out and that bill would never have passed. She is to blame for this whole fiasco and she should be held accountable and censured by her peers in congress. She lied about the bill and so did Ohbama. How can she lose her job when her constituents keep electing her? They will one day be sorry that they ever put her in power. WHAT A WITCH

[…] Heritage Foundation: Today former Congressman Ernest Istook testified before the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee about the $105 billion slush fund in advance appropriations liberals tucked inside Obamacare. The $105 billion bypasses the traditional yearly budgeting process and is spread throughout the 2,700 page legislation. It took the Congressional Research Service (CRS) seven months toidentify all the disparate funds and it was not until February (11 months after the bill passed) that all of the funds could be totaled up. […]

There's no question that the idiots who crafted this bill and inserted all the glop and slush very well knew what they were doing. No doubt. That's not the same thing as saying: 'Behold, therefore all who voted in favor of this largess knew about this reserve fund of goodies and lollipops spread carefully throughout 2400 pages of the HCR Bill monstrosity."

Nice try on the continuation of the takedown/shakedown.

But saying that the CBO knew about the finer details at some point is not the point. They also knew about many things the general public was unaware of and that would have been damaging had it somehow become public before the votes were tallied. Ditto for the Sebelius scam of covering up damning information from the OMA (Office of Medicare Actuary), which, unlike the CBO, cannot be gamed for political purposes. OMA told the truth about how millions of Americans would remain uninsured, and how the CBO numbers were pure bunk all along, as others continue to point out (and did all along) while Pelosi and Sebelius put their fingers in their ears and yelled "la la la la can't hear you–can't hear you."

Yet onward marched the garbage in the bill, to which Pelosi’s sage advice on the new methodology for “getting it done” is to wait until the crap comes out larger than a Manhattan phone directory before the public at large can even see what’s in it. Charming to the end.

There's no question that the idiots who crafted this bill and inserted all the glop and slush very well knew what they were doing. No doubt. That's not the same thing as saying: 'Behold, therefore all who voted in favor of this largess knew about this reserve fund of goodies and lollipops spread carefully throughout 2400 pages of the HCR Bill monstrosity."

Nice try on the continuation of the takedown/shakedown.

But saying that the CBO knew about the finer details at some point is not the point. They also knew about many things the general public was unaware of and that would have been damaging had it somehow become public before the votes were tallied. Ditto for the Sebelius scam of covering up damning information from the OMA (Office of Medicare Actuary), which, unlike the CBO, cannot be gamed for political purposes. OMA told the truth about how millions of Americans would remain uninsured, and how the CBO numbers were pure bunk all along, as others continue to point out (and did all along) while Pelosi and Sebelius put their fingers in their ears and yelled "la la la la can't hear you–can't hear you."

Yet onward marched the garbage in the bill, to which Pelosi’s sage advice on the new methodology for “getting it done” is to wait until the crap comes out larger than a Manhattan phone directory before the public at large can even see what’s in it. Charming to the end.

"WHAT" Check this out DEMOCRATS as to what liars your Abomination of Desolation is; These democrats are the kind of people that we read about in the paper that have robbed churches and would steal from children. Would line their own pockets while leaving a child to starve and then act all pious like to implement another government program for the loafers in this society. Dam you, Dam you, Dam every last democrat alive. May you all wither up and die of every known filthy disease known to man. Dam every last one of you. May you go to hell to be with your god, the Abomination of Desolation; You filthy beasts. My your god die tonight without another moment of peace in his body.

Some of you are taking issue with the article for linking to stories that are critical of Bachmann. That's exactly the point of the article! The $105 billion does exist…it was not promoted as a total figure, but spread out and "hidden" throughout the bill in different smaller amounts, so that you had to hunt and add it all up. That's what Bachmann claimed, regardless of how the articles seek to spin the story.

Doesn't the Heritage Foundation have any pride of intellectual honesty? The AHA law appropriates funds for longer than a year. So what? If you think that some Americans should be left without health care, so as to improve the health care for the rest, you should just say so.

Unlike some other laws, the health reform act actually included revenues and spending reductions to pay for itself and then some. You should hold it up as an model for responsible legislating.

I did not understand then, and I still do not understand, why any member of Congress would vote on a bill/program they did not read completely. Neither can I fathom anyone who supposedly has the mentality to be elected and serve in Congress could or would make a statement, "We have to pass the bill to find out what is in it." I do not like to use the word "stupid," but that is plain Stupid. I hope Congress has learned its lesson, Democrat, Republicans, Independent. There should never be any legislation that contains that many pages. I doubt 90% of it makes any sense, just verbiage or someone's opinion to make the Bill confusing. This was an example of a tactical ploy to prevent Congress people from reading and understanding the legislation, but never will they admit to that.

Michele bacchmann is the only one out there standing up to this horrendous fraud being perpetrated on Amereicans by it's own President.

Say, isn't this just a little like kadafy having all that cash stashed away that he is using to fund his army with guns, etc to attack his own people? hmmmmm…..aren't such similarities just a little vexing? Like, thank you, Michele, for uncovering more facts proving that Obama is the worst president ever!

The Democrats rammed it so that no one would notice it, and they did. However, in WI, Gov Walker didn't ram it through, he warned them of what, through the bill what was going to happen. The Democrats left home, wnet to another state, he asked, told, and also warned them of what was going to happened. They didn't show for the vote. So the Republicans voted. It wasn't rammed through. Did I leave anything out?

no wonder they didnt want anyone to read the bill or debate it. no wonder they shoved it down our throats. it was an emergency. HOW was it an emergency??. when over 30 states want waivers from obama care. the unions want waivers from obama care.obama has granted his buddy corporations waivers from obamacare. why didnt obama just offer those 43 million, who more than 10 million were illegals, an option to get insurance and leave the rest of US ALONE. FIND THAT 43 MILLION, WHICH IS LESS THAN 15% OF OUR population, give them a cheap insurance deal., and tell them to accept it, or be uninsured.

Michele Bachmann said that she and her colleagues were shocked and appalled to find the $105 billion in th healthcare bill. Well, I'm shocked and appalled that it took the Republicans 11 months to make that discovery. I guess no one in Washington is doing their job.

Until the Republican leadership wakes up and decides to be Republicans (ie: fiscal conservatives) this isn't going to change. They need to pass a bill that completely defunds Obamacare and all other increases in spending in the last 2 years. The bill should ban the EPA from regulating so-called greenhouse gases. Better yet, just defund it completely until legislation is written that spells out exactly what they can and can't do and provide criminal penalties for any attempts to exceed their authority. Most of the laws need to be re-written in that area anyway.

If they are concerned with the rules, use all the rules and get around this ridiculous notion that we can't do anything about it.

It seems your only "conservative" case is so weak that its only recourse is to lie.

PolitiFact's evaluation is that "… there’s about $105 billion of already approved spending in the health care bill that may be difficult to rescind. But that does not mean that the process was secret. While the pre-approved spending provisions didn’t attract media attention, they were in the plain language of the bill and did not vary dramatically from past congressional practice. And the bill was made public before the vote. On balance, we rate Bachmann’s statement Barely True."

Aside from that, the health care law is Constitutional. That's because the adverse selection dynamic means the only way for government to provide for the "general Welfare" is to mandate universal coverage and tax for that purpose as provided by the Constitution. The Nobel Prize was awarded for understanding adverse selection, but that understanding has yet to penetrate "conservative" minds. Google "Single-Payer Health Insurance" "adverse selection" to see why the only viable economic approach is single payer.

The notion that Politifact, Factcheck.org, and the Washington Post confirmed Bachmann's rumor is simply delusional. If you actually click on the links, you'll see that Politifact ruled Bachmann "barely true", the Washington Post gave her the lowest score in terms of factual accuracy, and the headline of the Factcheck.org article is "No Secret: Bachmann Gets It Wrong." So lets not mislead here, you can agree or disagree with her statement, but you are clearly distorting your sources.

John in Baltimore, you are a typical liberal who can't stand the facts. WaPo says about this:

"Bachmann is correct that there was a Congressional Research Service report issued in February, titled "Appropriations and Fund Transfers in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act." It is actually an update of an earlier report first issued in October….Here's where it gets complicated. There is a total of $105 billion identified over 10 years in the CRS report, though only three programs, worth a little more than $25 billion, are funded the full 10 years."

Why don't you crazies attacking Bachmann (who is trying to save some of YOUR money) stick to the facts instead of name calling? Do you think that bolsters your case or shows you have no clothes?

I just got an email today with your name on it, asking for me to sign a petition about defunding ObamaCare. I am totally against it, and I want all the reps to do what they pledged they would do. However, since you are already elected and in office, I don't like the idea of asking me for $25 to do what you were sent to do. You are being paid already, and you have a budget. In my opinion, it is crass to ask for more money. Please have a PAC do it instead. It is much more worthy that way. You are already in power. Use it for the greater good. Don't use it as a begging tool for more dough.

The media in America are responsible for promoting the downfall of the greatest nation in the world. Public education has failed to prepare an educated population who can understand when socialism is being promoted. Too many Americans today are accepting an ideology that will destroy our great nation. We have elected the most incompetent President ever because our media did not and does not vet him–rather, they idolize him and cover for him. Please wake up before the Democrats and their state-controlled media destroy America. We needed health care reform but got the monstrous Obamacare which must be overcome and replaced with a better reform. I am a former Democrat!

[…] http://www.foundry.org/2011/03/09/politifact-factcheck-and-wapo-all-confirm-the-105-billion-obamac… Related Posts:Resize: AAA.Morning Bell: Defund Obamacare’s Secret StashReid threatens to keep Congress into next yearFollow The Unspent MoneyBattle begins on GOP cutsAlready in trouble, ObamaCare will be tipping point for many states Share this: This entry was posted in In the News and tagged ernest istook, health subcommittee, house of representatives, michele bachmann, slush fund. Bookmark the permalink. ← Determining the Cost of Fuel […]

The Obamacare bill is unconstitutional it should be repealed! The government has no right to force its citizens to buy anything! Since all government employees have sworn to defend and uphold the Constitution, why shouldn't all those who pushed this bill through be charged with TREASON? That includes the president! He was elected on a "Change America" ticket but we didn't know that he wanted to change it into a dictatorship. He seems to want to abolish the Constitution and all rights of the citizens of this great country. Check it out, he muzzled the press (as did Hitler), he wants to disarm all citizens (as did Hitler), and he has bankrupted this country. I say we need more people in the government like Rep. Michele Bachmann. Keep up the good work Michele!!

I think David just wanted his guest to say a yes or no answer so some blogger or crazy could take it out of context when they use it again against her. He wasn't listening to her answers at all, he just wanted her to say yes or no to some very gray answers. Shame on him.

Typical Rep. Michele Bachmann… Factually, what she says about the spending being slipped into the bill "unbeknowst to members of congress" is untrue. Parlimentary rules (which carry the force of law in the United States of America, and which, believe it or not, congress does indeed have to follow) are in place which mandate that the language of the bill, or any bill, be available to members of congress for a given period of time before a vote. In this case, minimum 48 hours, and yes, more time would've been better.

While it may possible that Ms. Bachmann herself did not read the bill, many other members of congress actually did.

I contacted one from Colorado yesterday, their office in DC, and his main staffer working on health care, Rosalin, spoke to me at length.

The language was available.

Many people on this forum will doubt this; call your congress person and ask them! Chances are quite good that you'll end up talking to somebody who knows the realities of this situation and will be more than willing to talk to you. Do your own research! If you truly believe what this article is putting forth is true, then the closer you look and the more research you do will only amplify your knowledge of that truth.

Call your congress person and ask!!!!!

As far as the slush fund goes, the implimentation funding mechanism was/is handled pretty much the same way as the Medicare drug benefit brought into law during Mr. Bush's administration. Once again, if you doubt that, research it. That's what the Internet is for.

I know you won't run this, but all of the fact checkers you claim supported Bachmann's position determined that she was, at best, distorting the situation, and at worst, just lying. Seriously, it's sad.

Some of you posting here are so unknowing, it's unbelievable. You trust a Liberal Left Wing media to tell the truth? The same media that DID get Obama elected, by failing the public?

No one was aware of the $105+ Billion FRAUD, hidden in the HCB. At least no one that wanted that information to get out! Use your warped brain.

Did you hear ANY MENTION of this when the HCB was being rammed down our throats? No, you didn't. It was a SECRET. Had this information gotten out, even the week after the Democrats bribed any and all they could to get it passed, massive protests would have occured.

Did you see the protests. No you didn't, as it was another deception by Obama's "Team".

As for the "Democrat Talking Points" posted by some, no the HCB will cost way more than what we were told, further driving us to the brink of collapse, and never was "funded". The CBO claim that it was funded is a huge lie. The CBO does not investigate numbers given it, it just computes numbers given. Garbage in, Garbage out.

Former Congressman Ernest Istook, Jr. did our country a tremendous service by bringing the hidden $105 billion to light. He utilized the work of the Congressional Research Service to uncover the money in the self-funding mechanism. The authors of Obamacare intentionally spread the $105 billion throughout the healthcare measure, making it harder to find. In turn, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is working tirelessly to make certain this devious scheme is not allowed to stand.

Here is a little-known fact. When Senator Harry Reid released the original healthcare measure (HR 3590) on 11.18.09, I went to his website to read the bill. I immediately noticed that the 2074-page bill had a Table of Contents without page numbers. The next day, I produced a Table of Contents with page numbers for all of the listed sections and sent it out widely. Guess what? The final 2700-page Obamacare measure likewise has no page numbers in its Table of Contents. This is no accident! The people who drafted the bill do not want you to readily find information in the massive healthcare measure. (Please fact-check these statements.)

"…problem with Bachman's charge of "hidden" spending. CRS report refers repeatedly to many announcements made by the Department of Health & Human Services in recent months that it had spent some of the money authorized by Congress. In other words, the administration has not tried to hide this money at all; instead, it has trumpeted each $ spent in a press release. As for the claim "this money was broken up, hidden in various parts of the bill," we think she means that there were different sections in the legislation, depending on the issue…common practice for virtually all major bills, and not unusual or nefarious."http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/201…

a bill over 2000 pages is extreme and unusual. Reflects a great potential of fraud and corruption. Thank God it's found and we're on guard to the corrupt government we are forced to deal with. Thank goodness we now have people of integrity and good will in office, watching out for America.

It's not comforting to be led by deceit and cover-ups. We're grateful there are those that respect us enough to work honestly and inform us of the truth!

The health care “reform” law passed last year is not only the worst public policy passed by Congress in my lifetime, it is also the most corrupt legislative process I have ever seen. First off, let’s remember that the law passed the Senate using……

Not only is it illegal, if we had one person in government that approved this bill and could say they read and understood every word (checked by a lie detector test) then we would know the truth that 99.9% lied. There is no way any brain could understand all the bold faced lies in this bill.

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